All work and no play
by hula-crazy
Summary: This fic follows on directly after Colfor left it at the end of Holly's initiation. Recommend you read it first if you already haven't. sorry, no Arty in this one!hxt ht hollytrouble
1. Chapter 1

Chap 1

Trouble Kelp held out his hand to help Holly into the shuttle, but she deftly ignored him and clambered in by herself. Commander Root, still covered in paint rolled his eyes at her and passed Kelp the unconscious forms on his brother, and the Sprite and Dwarf, before climbing into the cockpit himself.

Trouble smiled at her as he pushed past, and started handcuffing the criminals to the wall at the far end, and patted them down once more to check for concealed weapons.

Holly sat on the plush leather seat staring at the little silver acorns she held in her hand, fairly oblivious to the goings on around her, and it wasn't until Kelp sat down next to her that she realized that they were flying.

"I'm going to be the first LEPrecon to be on suspension before they've even set foot inside the department aren't I?" she said Kelp, as she brushed her hair out of her face. He laughed appreciatively.

"I'm sure saving the Commanders life will get you off the hook", he popped his collar "not to mention the LEP's most decorated Captain"

"Who got his initiation score beaten by a little girlie" she replied slyly. Captain Trouble Kelp was the kind of elf who always won, and could be described as a very sore loser.

"What have you done to your eye?" he asked, changing the subject conspicuously quickly as he turned her face to get a better look.

Holly had a gash down the side of her face and her left eye was blackening nicely. She jerked her head out of his hand when he touched it, he eyes filling with tears of pain.

"Sorry" he muttered "hold still". He placed one hand on each of her cheeks, and very carefully moved his thumb to the corner of the cut. _Heal _he thought, and little blue sparks flowed down onto her face, repairing the wound and reducing the swelling. A few stray sparks drifted down her neck into her suit, causing the small elf to shift uncomfortably on her seat. Kelp raised an eyebrow, a gesture which made him look, in Holly's opinion, and indeed of the general female population of the LEP, very attractive.

"I fell over when I was going to the shuttle after Commander Root was apprehended. All the way down a very stony hill as it happens…" she explained turning red, which caused him to laugh again as he reached over to the hidden fridge and grabbed two bottles of nettle beer, tossing one over to the new recruit.

"You're gonna fit in just fine with the lads you are" he said saluting her with his bottle "trust me".

And impeccably, she did.

They arrived at the LEP police plaza with very little delays, but as they approached the door, a mob of people appeared apparently out of nowhere. Masses of reporters bombarded the Commander with questions about the arrest and whether or not it was true. Holly's wrist was grabbed by one determined pixie, who stuck a camera and microphone in her face. On both sides of her, Root and Kelp were being harassed too, and it was all she could do not to pass out with panic as two strong hands grabbed her shoulders and dragged her through the double doors.

"Are you alright Short?" asked a very angry Root as he pulled the cage with the three convicts through the door. Kelp let go of Holly's shoulders and rushed to bar the doors from the media trying to get in.

"Yes sir I'm fine" she replied formerly.

"Good" said Root "now normally I would take the new recruits for a tour of the department and get them kitted up personally, but I have some criminals to take care of." he eyed her warily, then said gruffly "you understand that don't you"

Holly didn't hesitate to agree that the convicts were much more important than she was, and no she wouldn't make a complaint if the Commander left her in the capable hands of Captain Kelp.

"Good. Maybe you're not so bad after all" he muttered as he walked off in the other direction, pushing the cage in front.

The two remaining elves stood for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, when finally Kelp broke the tension.

"Let's get you out of those clothes then" he said, then added "and into some official LEPrecon gear" as Holly threw him what could only be described as a suggestive look. She laughed openly at his awkwardness then followed him down the corridor.

They reached the Recon department and entered using Kelp's clearance card, and they ducked into the male locker room.

"Recon doesn't… as yet… have Female locker rooms, so you'll have to make do" he explained apologetically.

He took her to a cupboard and reached down to the lowest shelf and produced a pair of black combat trousers, and a dark green t-shirt. "We also don't have female sizes" he said, turning his back so that Holly could change.

She quickly stripped off and pulled on the clothes, tying the top at her waist so it wasn't so baggy, and pulled the tie on the trousers as tight as they could go.

"Captain?" she asked, causing him to turn around "do you have a belt I can use?" she let go of the trousers, and they slid down till they were slightly lower than her hips

"Yeah sure" he said, unbuckling his own "and call me Trouble when the Commander isn't around" he fumbled with his belt, and somehow managed to wedge it tight "D'Arvit" he breathed, "it's stuck"

Holly tutted and crouched down to take a look for herself. She pulled on the course material and managed to shift it.

"finally" she sighed and whipped it out from around his waist, which would have not been a problem, except that at that exact moment, Private Chix Verbil walked in with a whole group of sprites just coming off the clock.

Trouble stood, horrified, as the whole group of them jumped to the conclusion that Holly was undressing him.

In all fairness, she was, but it didn't have half the connotations that the overly chauvinistic sprites would assign it.

Holly stood quickly and did the belt up on her own trousers to the jeers of the crowd. She picked up her old uniform off the ground and folded it neatly.

"What should I do with this" she asked Trouble, keeping her head down, and then added deliberately "Captain"

This got the catcalls going again, and one particularly loud sprite called out

"Trouble! You dog, you've even gotten her calling you captain"

Holly shot Trouble a look, and he started to move out of the room.

"I don't know about you _Private_, but I get all of my men to refer to me as Captain" he said as he pushed his way through the crowd. This comment passed unnoticed by most of the crowd, apart from a few raised eyebrows at the thought that this… girl would be one of the Captains men.


	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2

"Normally, new recruits would get kitted up on their official first day, but since I have to drop off the video of the Turnball case to the tech guy anyway, you might as well get a head start." Explained Trouble Kelp as they made their way down to the Tech Labs.

"I totally agree" agreed Holly, more than eager to get her hands on the new weaponry. Rumour had it that the new neutrino was being released to the officers and Holly hoped to her ancestors that she might be one of the first to have one.

They strode confidently (or at least, confidently on Troubles part. Holly was acting more than anything else) through a pair of whooshing doors that whooshed closed behind them.

"It's like the doors announcing that they have done their job and are now closed" commented Holly, receiving a nod and smile from her companion.

The kind of nod and smile that makes you feel, oh, this big on the inside.

The room they had entered followed the same style as the doors. Everything had a kind of smugness and self importance that was a, for lack of a better word, contrast from the rest of the building, which didn't really have a personality, or if it did, it didn't show it off.

"Impressive isn't it" called a voice, hidden behind a giant screen "I designed the entire room myself you know. Took me ages to incorporate all of the bug sensing technology. Well, comparatively anyway." The voice was male, and had the same smugness that the room seemed to possess. "If anyone tries to sneak anything in hear that they shouldn't, I'll know about it" the voice continued.

"This is Foaly," introduced Trouble with just the hint of a sigh "the tech guy"

"Centaur actually" corrected the centaur coming into view but not looking up, "and you must be the new meat…" he consulted his screen "Holly Short." He did a double take, then finally looked at the new recruit "but you are a girl!" he exclaimed.

Holly rolled her eyes. Joy oh joy, another big headed male who thought that recon was no place for a girlie

"Yes" she said containing herself "we covered that earlier."

The centaur looked from Holly to Trouble, then back again, then suddenly started laughing. His laughter continued long after it had become inappropriate, and even after the giggles had subsided, he still, to put it nicely, grinned like a loon.

"It gets better" agreed Trouble, ignoring the questioning looks he was getting from the female and plucking his video card from his helmet. He plugged it in to the main screen, and fiddled with the controls until the shot of Julius shouting at Holly.

_"Do you have anything else to say for yourself?" _boomed the commander's voice over the loud speakers. The Holly on the screen looked directly into the camera and the Holly watching grinned deeply.

_"Only this commander"_ she replied with what came off as more bravado than the new captain remembered having, and shot him three times with the paintball gun.

Trouble froze the screen of a full face shot of Commander Root. His eyes looked like they were going to burst out of their sockets, and his mouth was pulled into a cross between a shocked 'o', and a teeth baring snarl.

Needless to say it was rather funny.

Once more the centaur collapsed in laughter, and Holly, now realising that she wasn't the butt of the joke felt more inclined to join in this time.

Once the laughter had stopped once more, Foaly started piling Holly up with more gadgets than she could ever handle by herself.

"…this is a moon belt, makes everything easier to carry" he continued after a very long introduction to the machinery of LEPrecon "and finally, for your personal egotistical self-assuring purposes, the neutrino 1750, latest model of my own design naturally, this baby is top of the line, and guaranteed to win in any fire fight." He winked at the star struck elf "if handled correctly".

The group chatted for a little while longer about the comings and goings of the LEP, and general polite conversation that is called for in social situations and generally bored Holly out of her skull.

Eventually, Holly and Trouble made their excuses about having to leave, but just as they were about to exit through the whooshing doors, Faoly called them back.

"Just to say thanks for my new screen saver" he said, presenting her with a small black box on a chain "it's an access cube for my lab, as long as I am around, you don't need to wait for me to answer the door. But be careful with it, only Kelp, Wing Commander Vinyáya and now you have one, so don't go blabbing your mouth off."

"Wow, thanks Foaly" replied Holly, hooking it over her head

"And remember to send the files to the council, it has all the information we have about Turnball on it" reminded Trouble. Suddenly remembering the prime reason they had visited the Lab.

The doors whooshed closed behind the pair as they exited the room, and Foaly set about editing the video files of all unnecessary footage that Trouble had obtained.

He watched the clip of Holly shooting the Commander one more time, before sending the complete set off to the council.

At a later date, that section of video was to be sent anonymously to all of the computers within the LEPrecon department, and actually become the default screensaver loop for the entire LEP council.

It would be a small understatement to say that Julius Root was not amused.


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

Holly woke eager for her first official day as the first ever female LEPrecon officer in the entire history of fairy kind. She showered quickly and practically ran to work, arriving, for the first time (and would turn out to be one of the only times) in her life, early for work.

"Captain short, sir, reporting for duty" she announced to the commander as she entered his office.

He simply glared at her. He wasn't what you would call an evening fairy.

"Get me a coffee" he growled at her "black. And then we'll talk."

"Yes sir, coffee it is sir!" she replied with more energy than one decently should have at eight o clock in the evening, hoping this wouldn't be what her entire job would turn out like.

She circled the department a few times before she eventually found the coffee machine, and it took her another few minutes to figure out how to turn on the blasted thing, but eventually she managed to produce a scolding cup of coffee and make her way back successfully to commander Roots' office.

She was (pleasantly) surprised to find Trouble Kelp talking to the commander in low voices when she returned, but they cut their discussion short upon her arrival.

"Morning captain Kelp" she mumbled, throwing him a worried look, he smiled reassuringly at her.

"Short" he acknowledged, before returning his attention to the commander.

"There isn't a full moon for another two nights yet, so… she'll" Root hesitated on the feminine pronoun "she'll have to shadow you until you can escort her to complete the ritual. I don't want her getting injured until after it could have been her own fault, so you are off active duty till then. Catch up with your deskwork, and log in some hours on the simulators ok?"

Trouble scowled at the thought of being off active duty, but consoled himself by reasoning that a few days on the simulators with the new Captain could only boost his reputation.

"And you, missy" Root was talking to Holly now "that little stunt you pulled with the shuttle on the surface won't be repeated, you hear me? When your commanding officer tells you to do something, you obey, no questions asked!"

"But sir!" gasped Holly "I saved your life!"

Root glared at her again.

"Be that as it may, next time you might not be so lucky." Holly snorted inwardly. It wasn't luck, it was pure skill. "And I don't want you to get hurt." Holly thought she heard concern in his voice. "It's bad enough when one of the men get injured, if I had to explain to the council why the only girlie on the squad got injured under my watch, there'll be hell to pay. For you and me both."

She didn't.

"So you do everything Kelp says ok?" reinforced Root

"Everything?" asked Trouble, a wicked grin on his face. He winked at Holly who fought to keep a blush at bay

"Everything" agreed Root. "Understand girl?"

Holly seethed at being referred to as girl, but nevertheless, agreed to do as she was told. She didn't want to get kicked off the squad just yet.

"Good" said the commander, "now get out of my office"

Holly and Trouble left the commanders office, and she followed him to his cubicle where he sat on the only available chair, and propped his feet up on the desk.

"The way I see it, captain", he said oozing charm from every orifice, "is that you are my slave for the next two days" he clasped his hands behind his head "and there is nothing you can do about it"

Holly simply glared at him, daring him to carry on talking. It was scary how much she reminded him of the commander.

"You are completely right captain, this is neither the time nor the place." he stood and made to pass her, but when she did not move, he found himself uncomfortably close to the strikingly pretty elf. "Maybe later though…" he left the sentence hanging for Holly to guess what might happen later.

Their faces were mere millimetres apart from each other, and Trouble could have sworn that his colleague was about to take advantage of the closeness. He could hear his heartbeat getting faster and louder, so loud, in fact, it actually sounded like someone knocking on a padded surface. Sort of like the padded surfaces you get that act as dividers for individual workspaces within an open plan office.

There was a cough from the cubicle entrance.

"D'Arvit" breathed Holly, breaking the eye contact, and pushing past Trouble, moving to the desk and making it look as though the pair had simply been passing each other in the tight space.

If the young pixie at the entrance hadn't known better, he would have sworn that the two elves had been about to kiss, but everyone knew that Trouble Kelp's reputation with the ladies was strictly off the clock. No-one could distract the captain during LEP hours. He was dedicated.

"Sir?" he asked tentatively, "The media are gathering, the council requested Captain Short, but I can't seem to find him" the pixie looked at his feet, embarrassed, "could you help me?"

"No problem" replied Trouble, throwing Holly a glance. She was examining the table with devoted interest. "You run and tell them that Captain Kelp is on his way, and he'll be bringing the g… the new captain with him"

"Yes sir, thank you sir!" gushed the eager pixie, who took off at a run to deliver the message.

The pair waited until he was out of earshot, which admittedly wasn't very long, before they both sprang into action.

Or rather, Trouble Kelp sprang into action, while Holly sat down heavily and hit her head repeatedly against the desk.

Trouble ignored her, and pushed her out of his chair so he could reach the phone. He dialled the tech labs number, and wasn't overly surprised to find Commander Root answer.

"Commander," he said down the telephone, "we've just been told about the press conference." He paled slightly "what do you mean that I'm not going out with her? But sir! You know what they are like, they'll eat her alive!" Holly ht her head a few more times for good measure. Try as he might, Trouble could not conjure a good argument for why he should accompany the new captain to her apparent doom. "Very well sir, I understand." He glanced at Holly now that she had (attempted to) sort out her appearance. "And could you contact, Lilli Frond, tell her it's an emergency"

He slammed down the phone after a few more instructions from the commander, and grabbed Holly and propelled her out of the cubicle.

"The press are always looking for ways to fault the LEP," he explained, as he scanned his clearance card through the double doors, "so you have to be careful what you say. There'll be someone feeding you lines from backstage, but even so…" he stopped as they arrived to the waiting area for the press hall, and Holly was immediately whisked away by Lilli Frond and a group of Techies.

"Two minutes" she said, surveying her new project, and plonked Holly on a chair.

All around her, people were shouting and rushing about making last minute preparations for the inevitable media onslaught.

While Lilli worked on her hair and make up, Trouble set Holly up with an earpiece, microphone and finally an iris cam.

"Don't rub your eyes" instructed both elves, as Holly raised a knuckle to wipe the freshly applied mascara. She wasn't used to having makeup on.

"Jinx, you owe me a soda!" Laughed Lilli, nudging Trouble in the ribs playfully and giggling in a very attractive manner. Holly felt a surge of jealousy as Trouble smiled softly at the beautiful fairy and nudged her back.

She was almost glad when the Commander grabbed her wrists and dragged her through the door to the Press hall.

Almost.

There was a general murmur of half heated 'good luck', though in truth, no-one expected that it would make much difference.

Another 'good luck' sounded in her earpiece but before Holly could figure out who said it, Foaly had snatched the mic and was giving her instructions and feeding her lines as she was pushed onto the stage.

Holly swallowed. She was going to need it.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt like a millennia before Holly was allowed to leave the press hall. Vinyáya complimented her on her composure as she was leaving, but it wasn't until she watched she got home and watched the interview herself that she fully understood just how good she had been.

She made her way back to Trouble Kelp's cubicle and found him typing up some reports that need finishing, and to her great disappointment that's what she spent the rest of the day doing.

They had planned to grab a bite to eat together after work, given that she had missed lunch due to the press conference. But as they made their way to the exit, just before they passed through the double doors leading out onto the street, a flyer pinned on the employee's notice board caught the female elf's attention.

Trouble caught her reading the notice entitled 'crunch ball trials' and nudged her gently in the ribcage.

"You gonna sign up?" he asked, half jokingly

"Do you think I should?" she replied, not noticing companions amusement "I used to play in college, but the LEP doesn't allow girls below captain to join, but now I'm a captain..." she was cut off by a badly disguised chuckle from Trouble. "What?" she asked defensively.

"I used to play in college," he mimicked in an unnaturally high voice. "Short, this is the police league, not some girls college social group." He wrapped his arm smoothly around her shoulders. Holly could not believe her pointy little ears. This Trouble was so different from the one who had stuck up for her in front of the commander, or in front of those male sprites in the locker room. This Trouble Kelp was so much like the others, this one was so... male.

"I'm sorry," she muttered darkly, "you seem to be under the impression that I can't do anything for myself." Her voice grew louder. "You think I was on the girls team? I was on the men's team, and more than that, I made the men's team. They hadn't won any matches for two years before I came along, and I've never lost a match!"

Trouble laughed at her softly, but he had lost his cocky edge that he had had moments previously.

"I'm sure they did," he said, " but there's a slight difference between a college team and the police league." In her head, Holly had to reluctantly agree. The police league teams were comprised of big hairy gnomes, pumped up sprites, the occasional sadistic dwarf, and perhaps the quickest and most talented elves. Naturally, Trouble Kelp was a first row dunker, a position that equated to the quarter back of an American football team, or the center midfield of a soccer team. "There's no room on the Recon team for a girl. We wouldn't want you to get hurt" he added affectionately squeezing her shoulders.

Holly was not impressed.

Pushing his arm off of her (though, later on when she was on her own, she would be forced to admit that it was pleasant having it there in the first place) she snatched the pen off of the wall and wrote her name on the next available line.

"There doesn't seem to be room for a girl on Recon full stop," she retorted bitterly "but here we are." and on that note, she stormed out of the building and onto the street.

Trouble stood watching after her blankly for a few moments, and then rushed out after her.

"SHORT!" He called after her retreating figure, "HEY! Short!" He lowered his voice as he got nearer to her. "All I was saying that for your own safety..." He was cut off by Holly's fist hitting him in the face and throwing him unceremoniously face first onto the floor.

"My own safety?" She asked indignantly as his blue sparks repaired his broken nose. "What am I? Some little girl who can't take care of herself?" He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. "You actually think that I need protecting!" She said disbelievingly. "Who tagged commander Root first? Who thrashed your personal best flight records? Oh, yeah, Who saved whose life?" She kicked him in the shin. "Without magic?"

He tried to touch her to calm her down, but she merely slapped his outreached hand away.

"Do you want to know what I think Kelp" she asked quietly, which in itself was more menacing that when she had been storming about " I think that you feel so threatened by me, a small little girl who's beating you at everything that you try to do, that you don't want me to make the team, because you know that I would take your place"

Trouble Kelp was a smart elf, and he knew a lifeline when he was thrown one.

"What if..." He said quietly, playing the role of the sensitive elf to perfection. "What if I told you that I was scared?" He glanced at her and was relieved to see her face softening. "What if I told you that what I have here, this is my life. I work hard, I do well, and I beat everyone because I have to!" He reached out and took her hands in his, looking at her through tear y eyes. "What if I told you that when you come in here and beat me as if I was some kind of child, that I can't stand it..." He stopped talking when she squeezed his hands tightly. "I've worked too hard to let you just waltz in here and take everything away from me!"

It was Holly's turn to chuckle.

"I don't expect you to let me!" she cried exasperatedly "I'm just trying to be the best I can be and if that's better than you, then you had better up your game! I don't want to be Root's golden boy!" she threw her head back and laughed at the very idea of being one of Root's bests.

She pecked him lightly on the cheek, and then turned to leave once more.

As she was about to round the corner of the street, she turned back to face Trouble.

"And hey," she quipped "if it does turn out that Root chooses me over you, you could always win him over with that whole crying emotional fairy routine you've got. That was really convincing!" she waved cheerily at him and disappeared around the corner leaving a very bemused Trouble Kelp to wonder exactly what Recon had got itself in for by recruiting it's first aver female officer.

There was a reason that females wouldn't make good Recon officers, and it was nothing to do with physical capabilities.

Girls are crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next night they spent mostly preparing for going topside the following night for the full moon. There was arduous amounts of paper work to prepare, and Holly had to be officially inducted to the field kit.

The first few hours of the evening were awkward to say the least. Trouble didn't want a repeat of yesterday morning, and truth be told, Holly was fairly ashamed of herself. Swallowing her pride, Holly briefly apologized to the captain, who shrugged off the incident a lot more casually than intended, but graciously none the less.

After that, aside from a brief encounter with two sprites, an elf and a pixie in the coffee room at lunch, the day passed without anything worth mentioning. They left the office late, making final preparations till the last minute, and it was well past 8 am before Holly finally got home and took a nice, long, relaxing bath.

Just because she did a man's job, didn't mean she had to smell like one.

The next evening rolled up all too quickly for captain Short. Though she was excited about visiting the surface, she was also terrified. As soon as she had completed the ritual, she would be on active duty shadowing Captain Kelp, and anything could happen.

They caught the 6 pm shuttle above ground, and arrived just as the sun was setting over the Irish landscape. It was one of the few times in Holly's life so far, that had taken her breath away.

"It's beautiful" whispered Holly into her microphone, and way down below the surface of the earth, she heard Foaly agree with her.

"It's impossible to recreate the light in the same way down here. We just don't have the room" he explained knowledgeably, so enjoy it while you can, captain, because next opportunity you are above ground, chances are you'll be too busy to take in the sites."

Holly felt Trouble take her hand, but refrained from looking down, highly aware that she had a point of view camera attached to her helmet.

"Short!" shouted Commander Root down her earpiece, worry infused in his voice "What's going on up there?!? Your heart rate is sky-rocketing"

Trouble sniggered while Holly blushed deeply, but did not release the grip he had on her hand.

"Adrenaline sir" she bluffed, hoping the Commander would buy it.

"yeah, surface air will do that to you" he mused, and beside him, Foaly could have sworn he saw the faintest of smiles pinching at the corners of his mouth. Then it was gone. "Now get going, the pair of you, I want you active ASAP"

"Yes sir" agreed Trouble, releasing Holly's hand and making a move towards the equipment bunker.

With an ion of regret, Holly cast one last longing look back at the dyeing sun, and followed after him.

Fortunately, the ritual site was near enough, and there were no humans around, so they didn't have to employ any drastic disguiseing techniques, given that Holly couldn't shield. They approached the old oak, and Holly could feel the power radiating off of it. This was truly a powerfully magical place.

Holly bent down and picked up an acorn from the undergrowth.

"Great," Said Kelp, "now let's move it out a few field over, then you can return it there"

They took off at a jog, and Commander Root was pleasantly surprised to see that even without magic on her side, the females heart beat was only slightly faster than Troubles. And he was one of the fittest elves on the force.

The girl must have been stacked.

Trouble respectfully turned away as Holly planted the seed back into the earth. It wasn't polite to watch without consent.

"Ungh!" grunted Holly as the magic came rushing into her system. She grabbed hold of Trouble's shoulders for support as the blue sparks flushed all of the impurities of the last few days from her system.

He was forced to turn around hold her up when her knees gave way, and found himself face to face with a shimmering Holly Short. The magic had brought a healthy green tinge to her cheeks, and her lips looked fuller and plumper. Her hair shined like stardust, and her eyes glinted, ready for action and eager for adventure.

"That's good stuff!" she groaned as the magic finally cooled, brushing down the static charge residue left on her suit.

A soft beeping from his wrist communicator, called Trouble away from his mental wanderings about what Holly would look like without her bulky L.E.P suit, and informed him that there was a runner nearby.

"We're the closest" informed Holly, somewhat unnecessarily, and when Trouble nodded agreement, she fired up her wings, and shimmered from view.

"Let's went, pretty boy" she roared as she took off in the direction of the rogue fairy.

"That doesn't even make sense," he pointed out to her down the headset, before tearing off after her.

Trouble Kelp had already experienced being beaten by a girl once, and was not eager to repeat the ordeal any time soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They arrived, shielded, to find an unconscious gnome lying on the ground next to a tree branch. Little blue sparks flickered around the top of his skull, and Trouble talked back the likely turn of events.

"The gnome was at the base of the tree, when that branch next to him broke off and hit him on the head and knocked him out. His shield came off, so he showed up on our scopes..." he explained to Holly "chances are he's just a tourist, but we should probably cuff him and take him in just to make sure"

Trouble scanned the area quickly, and deciding it was safe, nipped down and landed neatly next to the body of the soon to be convict. Holly entertained herself by playing with a little squirrel that had come out to see what all the commotion was about.

There was a flash, a bang and a high pitched whistle, which caused Holly to practically jump out of her skin. Smoke flooded the area and she couldn't see what was going on below her.

"Short! What's your status!!" shouted Trouble into his microphone

"I'm alright Captain." She replied more calmly than she felt "what's going on?"

There was no reply

"Captain Kelp?" she repeated "Kelp? Trouble damnit answer me!!"

There was still no answer.

"Foaly, please tell me you can hear me!! What's going on and what happened to Captain Kelp??"

"I'm here for you, baby" replied the centaur jovially "hang on, I'll just check and see what happened" silence for a moment or two, then suddenly everything exploded "I need Commander Root in here right now, we have a code red, a P-37a and a man down. I need Root in hear now!!" he ordered opening a face to face channel with holly "Holly, the gnome was a fairy called Al Ca-gnome, He's very high up within the fairy mafia. He never goes anywhere alone, and is always armed and dangerous. The flash and bang was a distraction bomb, I think Kelp is unconscious but safe for now. You need to hold your position until Root gets here, so you understand?"

"Yessir" she replied, trying to take in the information that had just been reeled off to her.

Root's face appeared next to Foaly's, and glared at her down the camera.

"Short, I need you to get visuals on what is going on down there" he ordered, lighting up one of his infamous cigars.

"But sir! There's too much smoke, I can't see a thing!!" Holly replied, anxious that he was going to kill her.



"Use the infrared filter" hinted Foaly kindly "and there's too much smoke in here too commander" he added as a subtle hint to his colleague. Root ignored him, and focused his attention onto the new image that Holly was producing.

The form of Trouble Kelp lay in the middle of a group of five other figures. They appeared to be discussing what they were going to do with him.

"Al Ca-gnome, a pixie, two sprites and a dwarf" muttered Root. "Ok, Short this is what you are going to do. Retrieval is only four minutes away, so I want you to stun them, nip down, collect Kelp and bring him back up to your hiding place. Shield yourselves and they won't be able to find you"

"You want me to hide?" she said, obvious disbelief written all over her face.

"Yes I want you to hide!!" he roared "and that is what you are going to do!! There are too many of them for you to take on alone, and your priority right now is keeping Trouble alive!!"

"Yessir, I understand" she replied somewhat sullenly. She got a target lock using her neutrino, and fired off five quick blasts, giving herself about half a minute to fly down and retrieve Kelp.

She flew down and hoisted him onto her shoulder. As she kicked off to fly back up, she heard the boys behind her waking up. The smoke was clearing and she could just about make out where each of the fairies was lying. She had almost got out of reach of their assailants, when there was an almighty bang for behind her, and she was showered in flaming oil. It burned through her suit and scorched her flesh, and she felt Trouble slipping off her shoulders as the pain took over and she couldn't hold him up.

One of the two sprites had fired at them, and exploded the fuel tank on her companions back. All she could do was watch in horror as her companion fell, completely ablaze straight back to the ground.

"Holly don't go back!!" shouted Root in her ear "they are too dangerous, you can't handle them by yourself!!" he was trying to reason with her, but her own instincts had cut in, and there was nothing anyone could do to make her stop. She fired up her wings and roared back down to where Trouble had landed.

"Holly you need to get out of there!! Retrieval will be there in less than 2 minutes, it's not safe!!" repeated the commander getting more and more agitated that she was ignoring him.

"Commander, he's going to die in less than 2 minutes!" she shouted back as she cracked open the shell casing of his weapon and used the compressed cooling water to douse the flames.

"Good initiative, but that shouldn't have been so easy to break" muttered Foaly darkly, making a mental note to fix the strength of the outer shell casing on all of the new models as soon as possible.

She used her buzz baton to fend off the rogue fairies for a few more seconds, and pressed the emergency release on Trouble's visor. She ripped off her gloves and placed her hands on his cheeks and pushed all of the magic into her skin 'heal' she thought, and the blue sparks sped off to fix up all of the burn damage.



She was vaguely aware of shouting in her helmet, from both Root and Foaly, directed at herself and each other, but she blocked out the noise and tried to focus on what she was doing.

She them off for what felt like an age before she was finally forced to give up. She felt her head go cloudy, and the corners of her vision slowly turned black. One last blow from behind pushed her over the edge and she keeled over and allowed herself to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Trouble Kelp awoke in the back of a mudman vehicle. He could smell the fumes it gave off, and it made him want to hurt someone. It was pitch black, and he couldn't move easily. He felt something against his back and shifted around until he could touch it. He ran his hands over the course material and recognised it as the recon suit material. The mass moved, and Holly's voice sounded over the roar of the engine.

"Trouble?" she asked

"I'm here" he replied. He groped around until he found her hand, and she clutched it tightly "are you ok?" he asked softly, and ran his hands over her face to check for any injuries. The flesh felt smooth and shiny, as if there were bruises.

"I'm fine, how are your burns?" she replied, trying not to let him hear her groan when he touched her wounds. She pulled his hands away from her face so that he wouldn't feel the tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"Burns?" he asked unsure "what burns? What did I miss?"

Holly didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. She put her hand on his neck, and rested her face against his chest. He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her tightly towards him, and they lay like that until the vehicle finally came to a stop.

The roof lifted open, and street light flooded into the car. In the dim, slightly orange light, Trouble could see that both of their uniforms were scorched and melted away.

Oh, those burns.

They were manhandled down a small alleyway into a seedy bar. Trouble tried to resist crossing the threshold, but they pulled him through the doorway.

"Don't even bother trying elf boy" grunted the dwarf "the owner of this place when crazy years ago. Gave permission to enter to any fairy that happens to walk by"

They allowed themselves to be dragged to the bar, where Trouble was tied to one of the high backed barstools. Holly was taken to the back of the room and presented with a cocktail dress.

"Boss wants you to put this on" squeaked the pixie who was holding out the material for her "if you play nicely, we won't tie you up"

Holly glared at him but snatched the dress out of his hands. She waited for him to turn around to let her change but when he made no move to give her any privacy, she stripped off her suit and stepped into the dress. It was a backless black halter neck made of clingy material, with diamantes in a strip under the bust. The skirt was ruffled and fell just above her knees. The pixie threw a pair of black sling backs and looked at her feet pointedly. She slipped off her boots and socks, and slid them onto her feet. The 

pixie made a spin signal with his hand, and pinged the back of her sports bra against her shoulder blades.

"Kind of ruins the look don't you think?" he sneered, and Holly unhooked the latches and slid it out from underneath the dress. She felt completely vulnerable.

They walked back to the bar, where Holly was allowed to take a seat next to Trouble. He gaped openly at her, and she merely raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to say something.

For the first time, they heard the gnome speak

"Well well, this isn't quite what we had in mind, but you might say that it worked out better" he crowed, pouring three glasses of something orangey brown coloured. He gave two of them to Holly, and took one for himself. "Be a doll and help him drink" he said. Holly held the glass up to his lips, and he took a sip of the liquid. It made his eyes water and his throat burn, but he didn't say anything. Holly took a gulp, pulling a face as she swallowed.

"That's rough" she muttered, putting both glasses down on the bar surface. "What do you want?"

"I want information...err..." he examined the name badge that came with her uniform "Captain Short..." he looked at her brightly in the eyes "ah, so you are the infamous Captain Short. First female ever to make it onto the Recon squad" he allowed his eyes to trail down her body and back up to her face. "Impressive"

"We'll tell you nothing" snarled Trouble, worried at the way the gnome was looking at Holly.

"Oh, what a shame, I suppose I should let you go then" replied Al Ca-gnome disappointedly.

There was a stunned silence where nobody really knew what to say.

"Really?" asked Holly sceptically. Al Ca-gnomes face twisted with anger. He threw his full glass directly at Holly's head, and it was only her quick reactions dodging the projectile that caused it to smash on the floor behind her where it fell, rather than in her face.

"No not really!!" he roared, spittle flying from his mouth "you stupid girl, do you really think I'm going to let you go?! I'm going to torture you until you decide to tell me everything I want to know!!" he backhanded her across the cheek, cutting her lip with his ring.

She looked him square in the eye and wiped the blood off with the back of her hand, then licked the trail off her wrist, as it dribbled down towards her elbow.

Trouble sat frozen, waiting to see what would happen. He wanted to kick the smug little gnome in the face, but his ropes prevented him.

"You lowlife scum, didn't your mother teach you to respect women?" he snarled "or maybe she was a mudman, which would explain your ugly face." He enticed the mafia lord away from Holly, trying to stop 

him from hurting her any more than necessary. Holly groaned inwardly at her comrades words. He was just being stupid now.

She watched stoically as the thugs kicked over the stool he was sat on and beat him with snooker cues. He groaned as they kicked him in the head and stomach, and soon blood spattered the floor around him. From the floor, Trouble looked her in the eye, and silently begged her not to say anything. Holly couldn't look away, but had to fight hard to stop herself from crying.

"I want you to draw me a plan of police plaza." Instructed Al Ca-gnome, as he slid a pen and paper across the bar. "Or would you rather we gave your friend another turn?"

Holly remained impassive, and refused to pick up the pen. From behind her, a grunt indicated that Trouble had received a kick in the ribs. She still refused to pick up the pen.

"Make this easier on him" goaded the gnome, leaning forward eagerly "just one little picture will take away all of his pain. We'll heal him up real nice, and then you guys can go on your merry little way." He pushed the pen towards her, and indicated to the men towering over Trouble, who resumed their savage beating.

"Ok, fine, fine, just stop, I'll draw your map." She cracked. Holly picked up the pen to show him that she meant it. "Just stop hurting him. Please!!" She looked around, waiting for them to stop kicking him, but they didn't.

"The faster you draw, the faster he'll be healed" crowed the gnome. "You'd better hurry up; I don't think he can last out much longer."

Holly hurriedly drew the map as accurately as she could, but she had never been in all of the rooms, and she didn't really know how the floor plan really worked.

"That's it!!" she shouted, brandishing the semi-finished picture to her captive, "that's everything I know about the building!! I swear!! If you want the rest, you'll have to find some other way of getting it!!"

"Heal him" muttered the gnome as he reached out and grabbed the paper. One of the two sprites put his hand on Trouble's face and blue sparks fluttered all over him. Holly watched relieved as Trouble opened his eyes, but her stomach dropped when he merely shook his head at her. She shouldn't have given in, but she couldn't have not.

Not when it was his life at stake.

The gnome suddenly hit her square in the face knocking her off her chair onto the floor beside Trouble.

"You insolent elf!!" he screamed at her "did you think that this would be enough to keep me happy?! I need the ENTIRE ground plan, AND all of the access codes for the doors!! This map is useless to me!!"

Trouble suddenly found his voice, along with a renewed sense of justice.



"She doesn't know anything else, she's new, only on her first night tonight" he growled from next to her on the floor. "Just let her go and I'll tell you everything you want to know"

Holly gasped inwardly, but managed to contain herself. She knew that if they did let her go, they would most likely kill Trouble before she would have a chance to get access to any kind of Fairy aid.

"I've got a better idea" said Ca-gnome, eying the pair on the floor. "Since you seem to have such a soft spot for her, we'll reverse the roles. You can sit up at the bar, and she can be on the floor, defenceless, and then we'll see how eager you are to tell us everything"

He signalled to his men, who picked him up off the ground, and untied his ropes. They tied Holly's wrists and ankles, and despite putting up a struggle, she had no choice but to submit to them.

"Run if you like, Captain" mocked the gnome "but you can't take her with you"

He pressed the pen into Trouble's hand.

"Now draw."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Indecision ran through Troubles mind.

If he finished the picture, he would be handing one of the top ten most dangerous criminals easy access to police plaza.

If he didn't, there was a high chance that Holly would die.

It wasn't really indecision. There was only really one option.

He put the pen to the paper and scrawled across the page. He added all of the details he could think of, from the access codes of every single secure door, to the position of the coffee machine in the office.

The only thing he left off was the tech lab details. No one knew those details, so why would he?

"Ok, stop" he commanded "I'm done you can leave her alone now." He looked around, expecting them to stop hitting her, but when they didn't, he looked back at Al Ca-gnome. He was studying the map carefully, reading every single scrap of writing he could see. "I said you can stop now" repeated Trouble louder, trying to make the Gnome take notice of him. "STOP!!" he roared, leaping from his stool and barrelling into the sprite who was taking much pleasure in kicking the tied up girl.

He beat him with his fists, throwing punches left and right letting out all of his fury.

Eventually they prised him off the sprite and threw him to the floor next to Holly, where he scooted close to her and cupped her face in his hands. She dribbled blood, which he wiped away, and then he sat up straight, pulling her into his lap protectively.

"Put them in the store cupboard" ordered the gnome, and he waved bye-bye to the pair as they were dragged across the floor boards into a dark cupboard and the door was slammed shut behind them.

They heard the door click locked.

Trouble found Holly's leg on the floor beside him, and followed it up her body till he reached her face.

"Holly" he whispered, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine" she replied, wondering why they were whispering "why are we whispering?"

Trouble chuckled softly. "I don't know" he admitted, still talking in a low voice "stay still, I'll try and untie you." He helped her to turn around, and then slid his hands down her shoulders onto the knots around her wrists. In the dim light provided by the small window above the door, he could just about make out the knotted rope, but he had to feel his way through the knot before he could undo it.

He released her hands, and she stretched painfully she uncurled her legs from underneath herself, and leant forward to untie her ankles. She was surprised when she felt Trouble pressing against her leaning 

forward to reach the rope himself. She bent her knees so her could more easily reach, and shivered slightly when she felt his cheek lean against her bare shoulder.

"Trouble?" she whispered, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Trouble, what's going on?"

Trouble carried on untying completely unfazed

"Nothing" He murmured softly. His breath tickled her skin, causing her heart to race. She turned her head to face him, and he looked her in the eyes. Their noses were practically touching. "There, all done." He breathed.

Holly found herself leaning towards her comrade, and closing her eyes. Inside her head, half her mind was screaming to stop being stupid and get a grip on herself. The other half was telling her to shut up.

Their lips had barely grazed each other, when there was a bang from the room outside the cupboard. Trouble looked around sharply, leaving Holly hanging in midair.

"What was that?" He hissed, shuffling over towards the door, trying to see through the keyhole. "Holly, I think they've left"

Holly crawled over to him, pushed him out of the way and stuck her eye to the keyhole. With a stab of fear, she realised what she could see through the window.

"It's getting light out!" she gasped "how long have we been in here?!"

"Too long" replied Trouble patting down his pockets, searching for something. "They've taken my omnitool, we can't pick the lock"

"Do you have a hairclip?" asked Holly. Trouble looked at her blankly "or a credit card?" He produced his wallet and flipped it open. He selected a mudman 'American Express' card.

Holly took it off him lavishly and jimmied the door open.

"I love a Fairy with plastic" she giggled as she handed it back to him.

Did I just giggle? She thought to herself.

Did she just giggle? Thought Trouble to himself.

They peeked out of the door to see if there was anyone left in the room. There wasn't.

"Come on" said Trouble grabbing Holly's hand, and dragging her towards the bar. He lunged behind the counter, searching for a phone, while Holly sifted through the remnants of her uniform on the floor.

"They shredded my clothes" she moaned, when Trouble's head reappeared over the scuffed work surface.

"And they cut the phone cord" He added. He brandished her boots from under the sink "on the plus side, I found your boots"

Holly grabbed them off him, and hastily shoved her feet into them. "we have to find a phone" she grunted.

"Let's go" He ordered, holding back a smirk at Holly short in a very pretty cocktail dress with huge great combat boots on. He took her hand once more and together they snuck out onto the dingy alleyway lit by the pre-morning light.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Out of the end of the alleyway, about two hundred metres down the main street, there was a phone box.

They bolted down the street, sticking to the shadows, and then charged into the phone box. Trouble reached up way above his head and pulled down the receiver. He handed it to Holly, and then proceeded to pry the front of the keypad off of the machine. He inserted his little black cube into the mass of wires behind the keypad, and took the handset back off Holly.

"It wires into the phone and directs the call straight to Foaly's personal office phone" he explained at Holly's inquisitive look, and then he stood to attention when Commander Root answered the other line.

As he talked to the Commander, Holly allowed the fatigue of the night to catch up with her, and she phased out, and slumped against Trouble. He wrapped his arm around her, and she suddenly realised how cold she was. She huddled close to his body and closed her eyes.

"Yessir, yessir, no sir, yessir" continued Kelp in response to various orders being barked down the line. "She's fine sir, a little dazed perhaps, but no urgent medical attention will be necessary." He winked at her, and she smiled "No sir, neither of us sir. I will sir. Thank you sir." Trouble hung up the phone and removed the black cube before replacing the now useless keypad. "Root says retrieval are ETA twelve minutes. He said to find a nice door way and to stay hidden."

Holly shivered from the cold, but nodded and led the way out of the phone booth. There was a deep set doorway just away from the phone booth, and so the crouched there, calculating that no-one would be about this early in the morning. He shielded her from the wind, and they settled down to wait.

By the time that Retrieval arrived, twelve and a half minutes later, Holly was almost frozen to the step upon which she sat. The sleek teardrop shuttle briefly came into view, as four black clothed figures appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"You're late" muttered Trouble as he allowed himself to be led to the shuttle and pushed through the door.

Holly had to be half carried, as her legs had gone numb from sitting on the concrete slab. She was manhandled through the door, and settled onto the plush faux-leather seat. Someone flopped a blanket around her shoulders, and she leant heavily against Trouble in the seat beside her. He curled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tighter towards him.

There was a cough over the intercom.

"Short" Boomed the voice "please join me in the cockpit. Captain, bring her in."



Reluctant to use her legs, Holly allowed herself to be forced through the cockpit door onto the co-pilots seat.

"Wing Commander Vinyaya." Holly said surprised to see her ex instructor piloting "You wanted to see me?"

Vinyaya looked Holly straight in the eyes and took a deep breath.

"I am worried about your relationship with Trouble Kelp" she said carefully. "Relations with comrades never end well, and you could be setting yourself up to take a large tumble from grace"

Holly was experience a strange mix of outrage, embarrassment and remorse.

"With all due respect Commander," she replied trying to control her voice "Even if there is something going on between Captain Kelp and I, which I hasten to add, there isn't, it is neither your responsibility nor your right to worry about my relationships." She averted her eyes hoping that her response wasn't going to get her into any trouble.

"Holly don't be a fool. Why do you think I never made it onto recon?" Vinyaya snapped. "I can tell you, it wasn't because I couldn't handle it. I'm just as capable as you are Holly, hell, in my prime I could probably taken you on, but there was something else stopping me from being in your position right not, and his name is Julius."

Holly blanched.

"Commander Root?" she asked tentatively. Just the thought of it made her feel queasy.

"The very same" replied Vinyaya with a sigh. She looked at Holly's face and sighed again. "Oh all right I'll tell you." She muttered. "Back when I was on traffic, I made friends with one of my superior officers. He was a lieutenant, the next big thing, having just been accepted to the Recon division, and by Frond Holly, back then he would have made Trouble Kelp look like the rear end of a hog monkey with the IQ of a Troll."

Holly recognised this as an appropriate moment to chuckle, and so she did.

"We dated for a few months, but work got in our way and we never spent any time together, I was still working shifts, and he didn't feel it was appropriate to pull strings to make our timetables match, which of course annoyed me no end, and then the arguments started." She gave Holly that look that universally means, 'men are idiots'. "One time in the lunch hall we had a fight so bad that it resulted in me pouring soup down his collar and being suspended for two days.

After that, we broke up, and then when I was offered my shot at recon, I was too scared of creating a problem between us that I declined, and chose to rise through the ranks as an ordinary officer."

"Commander, I had no idea" said Holly quietly.



"Don't get me wrong Holly, we are the best of friends now, it comes with age and maturity you see, but i always resented him slightly for ruining my chance at being the first female recon officer." A twinge of sadness flashed across her face for the briefest moment, but then it was gone.

Holly slumped back in her chair, her head reeling at the information she had just received. She allowed her eyes to close, but just as she was about to fall asleep Vinyaya spoke again.

"Don't throw away what you have Holly. You don't just owe it to yourself, but to all of the females who want to succeed in the LEP. It's not just you who you have to think about. A lot of people want to see you fail Holly Short, but I'm not going to let you." Vinyaya checked their satellite position. "Sleep quickly, we'll be back soon."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When Holly awoke, she was in the ops room, with Foaly, Root, Vinyáya and Trouble all sitting on various chairs and counter tops waiting for her to regain consciousness.

"Commander, Wing Commander, Foaly," Trouble looked at each of them in turn. "I would like to speak in private for a moment with Holly...err... Captain Short."

Vinyáya and Root shared a knowing look, but nodded obligingly and proceeded to usher Foaly out of the room.

"What's going on?" asks Holly, baffled for a moment, but when Trouble sat down on the low sofa next to her, she straightened up and made room for him, realising what was going to come next.

"I spoke to Vinyáya." He said slowly. "Or rather, Vinyáya spoke to me at any rate."

Oh. Maybe she didn't know what was going to come next then.

"yeah." She muttered, "She caught me in the shuttle."

"Well?" asked Trouble, looking at her scrupulously.

"Well what?" she replied, blankly.

"Is it worth it?" he insisted, "Us I mean."

"I don't," she paused, frowning at him, "I don't know."

"I'm game if you are." He admitted, and smiled a smile that melted her heart.

"Trouble." She closed her eyes sadly, and shook her head, "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but, I don't think I can." He looked at her piteously. "How can I expect everyone to take me seriously if I get involved with my commanding officer, just two days after making it onto recon?" she asked. "How can I take myself seriously, if I've got a distraction?"

"Oh." he replied simply.

"Look," she added, "for the moment, let's leave thing the way that they are, and then, afterwards, in due course, with time, maybe things will change."

"But I want you now." He said with a sigh. "I don't want to wait."

Holly looked him in the eye, and leaned across, slowly, and gently pressed her lips against his.

"Good things come to those who wait." She breathed, however, when he pushed against her a second time, she didn't pull away, but instead let him kiss her fully and passionately.

He leaned into the kiss harder, pushing her backwards on the sofa until he was on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, running her fingers through his hair and stroking the tips of his ears.

His started to kiss her jaw, then her throat, and as he reached her collarbone, he allowed his hand to slide up her leg, pushing the material of the dress out of the way as he squeezed handfuls of meaty thigh.

Using all of the self control that she could summon, she pushed him away gently, until they were sat up facing each other again.

She took his hand in her own, and kissed the palm, before closing his fingers around the spot that she had touched.

"I'll wait." She said quietly. "The anticipation will be excruciatingly delicious."

"It'll be like torture." He murmured, leaning forward and kissing her lightly again, holding her cheek with his other hand.

"Excruciatingly delicious torture." Whispers back seductively, and with a growl, Trouble leaned forward once again to devour her, only to be, once again, pushed away.

"I'll wait too." He muttered eventually. "But I'm not going to enjoy it."

She grinned at him, and he rewarded her with his trademark weak-at-the-knees-smile, and it was all that she could do to not kiss him again, so she got up instead, and started rearranging her dress so that it didn't look quite as much like she'd been rolling around on the sofa with her commanding officer.

With a final glance backwards at him, she strode confidently to the whooshing doors, and waited for them to whoosh open.

"Short." Called Vinyáya, catching holly as she exited the room. "What happened?"

Holly considered saying that she didn't want to talk about it, but in the end, decided to tell the truth.

"We kissed." She admitted, and when Vinyáya frowned, she held up her hands in protest, "But we decided that it would be best to wait, at least until I'm better established in the department, before we make anything of it."

"Good girl." Nodded Vinyáya approvingly, "I know it doesn't seem this way at the moment, but it's the right thing to do."

"I hope so." She said, gazing wistfully at Trouble's rear end as he walked past without so much as acknowledging her presence. "Do you wish you never went out with Commander Root?" she asked suddenly, shocking herself with her own impertinence.

"Honestly?" clarified Vinyáya, "No, I don't regret a thing." She smiled at the memory of the two of them together.

"I hope I won't regret this." Muttered Holly, and was pleasantly surprised to find Vinyáya squeeze her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's late." She said, "You should go home and get some sleep, you've had a massive night."

Holly was forced to agree, and so, reluctantly, she made her way to the Commander's office to sign out for the day shift to take over.

When she arrived, she found Trouble already there, talking to Root about something hush hush, because they stopped talking as soon as Holly arrived.

"I'm signing off for the night, I'm going home." She said, and then added, "Sir," almost as an afterthought.

"Very good, officer," announced Root, "Well done tonight, it could have gone a lot worse."

Trouble laughed drily and smiled at her sadly.

"Not really," he whispered, and she smiled appreciatively.

"Good day." She said, and the pair bid her farewell before returning to talking about whatever it was they had been talking about before she had arrived.

And with that, she left.


End file.
